Quote of the Week: 2-0, you know to be honest you try to sleep with a lot of the girls I’ve previously slept with, so I just left town for a little bit just to give you a break. (Tim Riggins - Friday Night Lights)
Song of the Week: Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash (My Name Is Earl)
Big News of the Week: The Democratic Party are Morons: Remember earlier this week when the Republicans gathered to take questions from random Americans (see: Jesus Was too Smart to Ever Run for Public Office)? Well the very next day all the Democrat nominees said they won’t be showing up to the scheduled debate in two weeks on CBS. The reason: none are willing to ask questions from scabs because the CBS News writers are on strike. Hey Jackasses (get it? because it is their symbol. Oh never mind.), are you serious? I know Hilary Clinton wants to get out of any situation where she can’t plant he own questions or plant one of her staffer to ask the other candidates a question, but this is insane. Did you not notice the debate the day before that was able to get around using scabs to ask questions? If any candidate misses a debate for a reason this stupid I will never vote for them. So if Jackasses stick by their stance (or the writer’s strike isn’t resolved by then) it looks like I will be voting Republican next year. Unless Rudy Giuliani wins the nomination then I guess I will have to go with Nader.
Then to solidify themselves as the dumbest party (which says a lot considering the other one is home to George Bush), decided yesterday to strip Michigan of all its delegates at next year’s convention. Way to piss off a whole state that would have been in play next year. Make that two because they also threw out Florida delegates, another swing state, earlier this year. And why, because both states scheduled their primaries before Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Way to go idiots; pander to the states with three or less elector college votes than those with over twenty. And it is reasons like this you couldn’t beat the incompetent Bush. We might as well just have the presidential inauguration at the Republican convention this year because the Democrats won’t whiff the White House with these type of bonehead moves.
TheTVAddict: It was interview madness on theTVaddict.com as we posted interviews with The Unit star Abby Brammell and The Game star Hosea Chanchez. We also managed to anger the Supernatural Army and post some great behind-the-scenes photos with Summer Glau on the set of the Terminator.
Chuck: The ending has to be up that as one of the lamest cliffhangers ever in the history of the word. Like the Token Hot Chick is really going to leave her assignment and go with Bryce. Had this been a season finale cliffhanger it may have worked better and we could guess if she would be back the next year, but to do it in the middle of the season is pretty stupid. And it didn’t help the suspense that she showed up in the preview for next week. Oh, and if I haven’t mentioned it before, they really need to kill off Morgan and promote Captain Awesome to a regular? Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: One of the greatest Barneyisms with him hanging out at a gym. I know this first hand have worked at a gym in my youth. Although his method was all wrong because fat chicks rarely ever go to a gym and the rare ones don’t make it back a second time. But there is no higher concentration of token hot chick in any given area than the local gym. I remember having to do hourly body counts and spend fifty-five minutes hovering over the aerobics area (that was until we moved into a new building that made lurking much harder so I have to move to the nautilus area which unfortunately has a higher concentration of dudes.) Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Heroes: Once again this episode sucked massively so let me move onto the promo which promised that two Heroes will fall. If I had my way it would be some combination of Absorbing Guy, Hearing Thoughts Dude, and Split Personality Chick. And I think my wishes just may come true. First, someone has to die in the showdown at Prime Tech paper and as much as I want it to happen, Absorbing Guy, I doubt it will be him (not that he won’t die, he will just come back to life anyways (and if that counts as one of the deaths, I’m throwing something at my television (I’m wondering just how many parenthesis within parenthesis I go get)), same with Adam Monroe) and as dumb as the people over at Heroes are, I doubt they’d kill off Hiro, so that leaves Hearing Thoughts Dude. The only other Hero that I think is even in danger is Split Personality Chick. She already has an incurable virus and they have already assimilated her son with his cousins. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: This was easily the weakest episode of the series so far. It bugs me that Dan went into the past busted into the dude’s house, bleeding, says he is the one that shot him and yet none of that changed the molester’s history. I would say that would be a life changing event some how. And if the boy was 10 in 1980 that would make him 37 today, and he definitely didn’t look that young in present day and definitely wasn’t in his mid-twenties the previous episode in the first flashback. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Pushing Daisies: Maybe the best episode yet. Love Olive and Chuck working together and the Bitter Sweets is just as entertaining as the Pie Ho with its Willy Wonka feel to it. Then there is the surprise ending that Ned actually told Chuck that he killed her father. Should make the next couple episodes interesting especially with the now creepy Molly Shannon still lurking around. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Bionic Woman: First off, they really need to give back the Friday Night Lights cameramen. The jumpy camera works for that show because it is gritty, but the Bionic Woman should be slick and shiny. Other than that and Becca’s choice of music, a thoroughly enjoyable episode. I loved how they gave Walking Herc more screen time because he is easily the most entertaining part of the show. Yeah you have to wonder how he possibly still lives at home considering Berkhead is so loaded that can make it rain Pacman Jones style with millions of dollars when Jamie rescued the CIA dude a couple episodes back. And the show even had the best lines of the week that weren’t on Friday Night Lights when the lesbian chick said she slept with the gay-basher which I laughed more at this week than anything on television this week aside from the debate. And you gotta love anyone who has to memorize the Theme to The A-Team. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Survivor: After all the hype they kept them after Tribal Council for an reward challenge? I would like to say that was a let down but honestly I didn’t have high expectations that it was going to be something. But at least we got a shake up. I can’t believe James didn’t play the immunity idol. You can only use it at three more tribal and you are the biggest physical threat. You deserve to leave if you didn’t figure out those odds. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Friday Night Lights: I think they have pretty much hit the tipping point for out there storylines between Riggins and the meth lab, Julie living out her own personal The Police song, Smash running from a angry boyfriend in his boxers and there is the ever present Landry killed a rapist. But the most absurd was Saracen dumping Kim Smith so he could nail the help. That’s not happening in real life. It is time to dial it down guys. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
My Night at the Grammy’s: Just another example of why America as a whole cannot be trusted to vote on anything. Seriously, in the fifty years of the Grammy’s, with all the surprised performances, once in a lifetime duets, the best performence over that span was Green Day performing a song that didn’t stray too far from the album version? Then Shania Twain and Celine Dion both make the top five?
Next Week’s Pick: MTV/MySpace Presidential Dialogue with John McCain, Monday at 7:00 on MTV: In a story I broke earlier this week, John McCain easily won the YouTube Debate even though he seemed openly opposed to that setting for a debate. So it should be interesting how he does on yet another new media outlet of MySpace. I guess as long as Hilary Clinton doesn’t sneak any of her henchmen in to ask questions it should be fine. Of course I believe the last time a Republican appeared on MTV was the disastrous train interview George H. W. Bush had with Tabitha Sorin back in 1992. The forum will be hosted by MTV News correspondents Gideon Yago and John Norris, with online questions, polling results and commentary delivered again by moderator and WashingtonPost.com political reporter Chris Cillizza.
When it comes to Christmas stories, there are none better than the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol (sorry Ralphie). Published 164 years ago this month, the book has inspired so many retellings, it would be impossible to count, from radio, theater, movies to television, strait forward versions to parodies, and even a couple musicals with everyone from Alastair Sim, George C. Scott and Bill Murray filling the shoes of Ebenezer Scrooge and of course there was Scrooge McDuck. Even Susan Lucci and Vanessa Williams have given female adaptations of the miser. And the remakes keep coming with Jim Carrey will lend his motion capture and voice to a Robert Zemeckis 3D animated version that will come to a theater near you at the end of 2009.
The story of course is a tale of how it is never late to turn your life around and that we are never truly lonely if we do so. And a quick look into his past, present and yet to come, Ebenezer realized himself that it was time to chance before he ended up like his former partner Jacob Marley. It is odd with all the different version of the story, not one Jacob Marley character has given the likeness of Rastafarian like Bob. Mmm, maybe I should write my own version. But anyways.
There have actually been so many retellings of the story that even Scooter McGavin himself has appeared in one. I played a young Ebenezer Scrooge in a classic version, with Victorian clothing and all, and got to make out with the token hot chick for a month or so while “rehearsing.” Nice work if you can get it. That along would get A Christmas Carol inducted to the Scooter Hall of Fame, but considering no mater who made it, or how they reinterpreted, virtually any version of the story is a good one.
A wise man once told me this is the most wonderful time of the year. It is so wonderful that even the really cheesy becomes thoroughly entertaining. Okay thanks to radio stations going all Christmas songs all the time since the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving it is sometime to get holidays overload before the first of December rolls around. For those that can’t enough Christmas I have a treat for you, the full programming guide of ABC Families 25 Days of Christmas. Don’t ask me why Harry Potter or The Incredibles are on the schedule. Well maybe I’m just assuming Potter isn’t festive because as a grown man I really know nothing about the franchise aside the gay dude.
Being the tenth annual 25 Days of Christmas, ABC Family is doing something extra special this year ABCFamily.com will host 25 days of sweepstakes giveaways presented by Dodge starting December 1. And since it is presented by Dodge, yep, there is a car give away, in fact four all-new Dodge Grand Caravans will be given away weekly as Grand Prizes while everyday one person will win a $200 Circuit City gift card. Also over at ABCFamily.com, Dodge is also sponsoring Santa’s Scrapbook, an online tool that helps users create online holiday scrapbooks that you can share with family and friends.
As for the schedule of 25 Days of Christmas below, all times are EST and in the PM unless otherwise noted. Also look out for my previews of the ABC Family orginal movies Holiday in Handcuffs and Snowglobe coming soon. Sorry for the all-caps, it was a cut and paste thing:
Saturday, December 1 (7:30 AM) CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY (9:30 AM) SANTA WHO? – ABC Family Premiere (11:30 AM) RICHIE RICH’S CHRISTMAS WISH (1:30) JINGLE ALL THE WAY (3:30) HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (7:00) HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
Sunday, December 2 (8:00 AM) RICHIE RICH’S CHRISTMAS WISH (10:00 AM) JINGLE ALL THE WAY (2:00) HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (6:00) HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (9:00 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
Monday, December 3 (7:00) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR (8:00) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (9:00) RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER AND THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS
Tuesday, December 4 (7:00) SNOW (starring Tom Cavanagh and Ashley Williams) (9:00) SANTA BABY (starring Jenny McCarthy)
Wednesday, December 5 (7:00) ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (7:30) THE STORY OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SNOW (8:00) I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS (10:00) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR
Thursday, December 6 (7:00) ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS (starring Kathy Ireland) (9:00) TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS (starring Kathy Ireland)
Friday, December 7 (7:00) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (8:00) THE POLAR EXPRESS (10:30) THE POLAR EXPRESS
Saturday, December 8 (7:00 AM) RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY (9:00 AM) THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS (10:00 AM) NESTOR, THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY (10:30 AM) PINOCCHIO’S CHRISTMAS (11:30 AM) JACK FROST (12:30) FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND (1:00) TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1:30) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR (2:30) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (3:30) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (4:30) THE POLAR EXPRESS (7:00) THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (starring Tim Allen and Juliet from Lost) (9:00) THE POLAR EXPRESS
Sunday, December 9 (8:00 AM) PRANCER (10:00 AM) SONS OF MISTLETOE (12:00) SANTA JR. (2:00) STEALING CHRISTMAS (starring Tony Danza and Lea Thomson) (4:00) SNOW (6:00) SANTA BABY (8:00) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS (starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez) (10:00) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS
Monday, December 10 (7:00) MARY POPPINS
Tuesday, December 11 (7:00) JACK FROST (8:00) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS (10:00) THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS
Wednesday, December 12 (7:00) FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND (7:30) NESTOR, THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY (8:00) THE POLAR EXPRESS (10:30) THE POLAR EXPRESS
Thursday, December 13 (7:00) THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (7:30) THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY BOOK II (8:00) HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
Friday, December 14 (7:00) THE CHRISTMAS LIST (9:00) A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER (7:00) THE CAT IN THE HAT (7:30) DR. SEUSS ON THE LOOSE
Saturday, December 15 (8:00 AM) A MOM FOR CHRISTMAS (10:00 AM) A CHRISTMAS ROMANCE (starring Olivia Newton John) (12:00) CHRISTMAS CAPER (2:00) CHASING CHRISTMAS (4:00) CHRISTMAS IN BOSTON (starring Marla Sokoloff) (6:00) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS (8:00) SNOWGLOBE (starring Christina Milian) (10:00) SNOWGLOBE
Sunday, December 16 (7:00 AM) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (10:00 AM) RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY (12:00) THE STORY OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SNOW (12:30) NESTOR, THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY (1:00) PINOCCHIO’S CHRISTMAS (2:00) JACK FROST (3:00) FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND (3:30) ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (4:00) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR (5:00) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (6:00) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (7:00) THE INCREDIBLES (9:30) THE INCREDIBLES
Monday, December 17 (7:00) PINOCCHIO’S CHRISTMAS (8:00) JINGLE ALL THE WAY (10:00) JACK FROST
Tuesday, December 18 (7:00) RUDOLF’S SHINY NEW YEAR (8:00) SNOWGLOBE (10:00) ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (10:30) NESTOR, THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY
Wednesday, December 19 (7:00 AM) SANTA JR. (9:00 AM) CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY (7:00) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (8:00) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (9:00) RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER AND THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS (10:30) DR. SEUSS ON THE LOOSE
Thursday, December 20 (7:00 AM) PRANCER (9:00 AM) SONS OF MISTLETOE (7:00) CAT IN THE HAT (7:30) THE LORAX (8:00) HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (live action version)
Friday, December 21 (7:00 AM) A CHRISTMAS ROMANCE (7:00) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (8:00) MARY POPPINS
Saturday, December 22 (7:00 AM) STEALING CHRISTMAS (11:00 AM) A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS (1:00) SNOWGLOBE (3:00) ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME (5:00) MARY POPPINS (8:00) THE INCREDIBLES
Sunday, December 23 (7:00 AM) ELOISE AT THE PLAZA (9:00 AM) ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME (11:00 AM) ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS (1:00) TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS (3:00) SANTA WHO? (5:00) I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS (7:00) HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
Monday, December 24 (11:00 AM) JACK FROST (12:00) RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY (2:00) FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND (2:30) ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (3:00) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR (4:00) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (5:00) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (6:00) THE POLAR EXPRESS (8:30) THE POLAR EXPRESS
Tuesday, December 25 (7:00 AM) RICHIE RICH’S CHRISTMAS WISH (12:00) A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS (2:00) SANTA BABY (4:00) SNOW (6:00) THE INCREDIBLES (8:30) THE INCREDIBLES
It really isn’t a shock when I say our political possess is broken. There are more Americans that are not registered to any party than those that are to the parties combined. Yet we let these nut jobs nominate candidates that are far left and far right to the majority of the country. In fact if you belong to either party you, my sir, are a moron. As soon as a party has you in their back pocket, they know that they no longer have to adhere to your concerns much like the blacks and religious zealots for the Democrats and Republicans respectively. (Full disclosure: I registered as a Republican as a bright eyed eighteen year old but am too lazy now to figure out how to unregister. And since in Ohio you can vote in any primary you like just by telling the polling people which one you want to vote in by telling them, it really doesn’t matter what you are registered as except whose propaganda you get sent to ad nausea in October each year.)
This can explain why more people don’t vote than do because who wants to elect the person that they think will screw up the country the least rather than picking the better candidate. The is further exasperated by letting two of the smallest state start the nomination process, especially when only ten percent of the already small population bother to trek in dead of winter to a polling station or caucus. This year is compounded this year with the media’s obsession with having a subway series even those both New Yorkers are unelectable.
With that said, last night’s Republican YouTube Debate was thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah Rudy Giuliani only bothered to laugh at his own video and wouldn’t shake anyone’s hand except when McCain reached over Thompson to do so; you can’t trust Mitt Romney because you can’t trust a man that uses that much hair gel; Fred Thompson showed why the writer’s strike needs to end; and McCain just had the demeanor that said, how can I possibly be losing to these morons.
And you knew the debate was going to great with the early gratuitous shot of Chuck Norris and Giuliani accusing Romney of employing illegal workers with Romney shooting back that Rudy was the best at hiring trustful employees (i.e. Bernie Kerrick). But the best moment was when they lead to commercial with the Thompson submitted video, only for Anderson Cooper to decide to not do so to ask Thompson, “What’s up with that?” I was though disappointed about the types of questions asked, nothing about education, the environment, or health care and way too much time spent on immigration, too many question directed solely at Giuliani and too many people asking for pledges for different stupid things.
If you missed the debate, you can watch all the questions over at the CNN/YouTube Republican Debate page but if you don’t have time to watch the two hour debate, here are the three questions I found most interesting:
Holy frack, a Republican actually talked about education and wasn’t even prompted to do so (unlike earlier when the goof ball Ron Paul suggested we get rid of the Department of Education). No one bothers to point out that much more Americans kill Americans each year than any terrorists. This question also is somewhat like the question I submitted (which I’ll get to later)
Here is where Mike Huckabee lost all the good will he built up with the Chuck Norris. Here he justifies the death penalty when the very next question he said he believed every word of the Bible. I know it has been a while since I’ve opened mine, but I’m pretty sure one of the more important lines in the Good Book is, “Thou shall not kill.” If I am mistaken there isn’t an asterisk to this passage that says it is okay to kill people who killed someone else. And there is another underlining problem with both parties. It makes no sense to me to be pro-life and pro-death penalty or pro-choice and anti-death penalty. You are either for killing people or you are not. I have much more respect for people that have the opposite view than I do than those that tow the party line of having it both ways.
I was completely shocked to know that there was an organization of gay Republicans. I have run into a couple of conservative gays in my life but I didn’t know there were so many of them that they were organized. And calling themselves Log Cabin Republicans is brilliant. I wonder if Dick Cheney’s daughter is a member. Also I wonder if Huckabee, who said he would accept anyone’s endorcement, would accept one from Osama bin Ladin. Granted, that isn’t going to happen because everyone know that bin Ladin obviously supports Hilary Clinton on the left and Rudy Giuliani on the right.
But as for a winner, John McCain was the clear winner. Even though he was in grumpy old man mode throughout the night, whenever he went toe to toe with the other candidate, he easily took the issue whether it was torture with Romney or Paul on the war. Also when everyone was asked what gun they owned, he had the best when he mentioned he knew how to use one when he was fighting for this country but no longer owns one. As a wise man once said, we don’t use guns; we prefer to beat you down like a man.” Mitt Romney on the other hand summed up his whole campaign when he begged Cooper to answer only to say that he had two guns in his house, but there were not his but his son’s. What a tool.
As for my question, here it is in written form. And for any candidate, Democrat or Republican, if you would like to answer it, my e-mail is on the side bar:
In 2001 Terrorist killed around 3000 Americans. That same year, Cancer killed over half a million Americans. Yet in next year’s budget there is $145 Billion going to the Global War on Terror but only $6 Million going to cancer research. Can anyone explain to me why we are spending a significantly less money on something that kills considerably more Americans? And if you were elected president, would you keep these trends on spending on the two?
You can watch random questions from both the Democrat and Republican Debates below:
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
For those that like free, I got a treat for you; currently you can download this video for free on iTunes. Click the title above to be taken there. On a side note, does anyone know if there is a way to convert video to MP3. I am under the assumption that the video is DRM’ed to the point that it makes it impossible, but I thought I’d ask. And unlike most soundtrack songs that are unlistenable, the new track from John Mayer has a great vibe to it in a John Hiatt kind of way. On the other hand, The Bucket List looks unwatchable. Plus it looks like they spoiled the whole movie anyway with the scene with Jack Nicholson speaking at Morgan Freeman’s funeral.
Speaking of free videos for something unwatchable, you can also get this Ryan Adams video for October Road for free on iTunes. It is a crime against humanity that ABC would bring back this show and the equally unwatchable Notes from Underbelly but not Knights of Prosperity. Seriously, would it hurt the channel to bother putting on a show that guys would watch? Ever since it let go of Monday Night Football, the network has turned into the All Broads Channel. No seriously, look up and down the channel and tell me how many of its shows actually appeal to dudes.
You have to put this song and video in the it’s so bad its great category. I’m not sure what possessed The White Stripes to do a cover of a cheesy fifties song, but I am glad they did because it is frakking genius. Then throw in whatever drug induced stupor person that thought up having a flirting bull and you have one of the most enjoyable three minutes of the year.
I am beginning to think that The Killers rarities disk may actually be better than Sam’s Town. The song is obviously their take on the Joy Division classic and the scenes from the video are from the upcoming band’s bioflick, Control.
One would assume that the name to the latest Spoon album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, was named after the sound the pretentious types sound like whenever Spoon releases a new album. Personally I tend not to fawn over bands that make synthesizer riffs that come suspiciously close to ripping of Bon Jovi’s Runaway (see: The Ghost of You Lingers).
Bon Jovi riffs aside; the rest of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is definitely more hit than miss. The sparse chords of the opener Don’t Make Me a Target will have you singing along after repeat plays no mater how many times Chuck uses the chorus ad nausea. And Don’t You Evah has one of the funkiest baselines since Crazy.
Then there is The Underdog which was the greatest pop song of the year that wasn’t technically popular. How the horn section of the song didn’t become the second most whistled melody of the year after Peter, John and Bjorn’s Young Folks is beyond me. I know I have caught myself whistling it to myself too many times over the last couple months. And the song works on so many levels, the line “you have no fear for the underdog that’s why you will not survive” could be about bullies to politicians who care more about corporations than their constituents.
The MVP of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is Britt Daniels, last seen serenading Veronica Mars with, well, Veronica, and his distinctive voice that sounds like his vocal chords had been rubbed down with sandpaper, but in a good way. With December approaching and the bombardment of Best of 2007 list getting ready to start, you may want to check out this albums so you see it near the top of everyone’s list and go, “Who?”
Before I get all self-congratulatory I want to point out to all the television fans, or have ones on you Christmas list, be sure to check out the Amazon Deal of the Day widget on the sidebar as today you can get first ballot Scooter Hall of Fame inductee Buffy the Vampire Slayer for under $100. For those keeping track at home that is $13.57 per season or $.66 per episode. If only I didn’t have most of the seasons all ready. Of course if you look and Buffy isn’t there then the deal is over (which will be sometime midnight PST). But there will be a new deal from now until Christmas. Now onto the self-congratulations.
A couple weeks ago I received an e-mail with the subject, “Comment on Your Blog (want to include it in my book)”. I am a little hesitant whenever I get something like this because they usually are shams. But after a couple e-mails back and forth with the author Vicky Zhou this one looks to be on the up and up. In fact here is what Vicky has to say about the book in her own words.
Scooter McGavin's 9th Green to Be Included In Top 500 Blogs
Back in the day, if you didn't know HTML, or code, you couldn't publish content on the web. Well, nowadays with tools such as Wordpress, and services like Blogspot, and Xanga, anyone.. yes anyone can tell the whole world what is on their mind through blogging.
But, there really isn't a robust way to search for the best blogs on any specific topic. Sure, there's Technorati, but what else? Besides, much of the World Wide Web is full of splogs, spam, and made-for-adsense blogs. And how many times have you read the same exact post over and over in different blogs?
That is why a project, listing the top blogs by general categories would prove useful. The book, titled “The Top 500 Blogs” is being written by relationship expert Vicky Zhou. From topics ranging from dating to technology, lifestyle, sports, music, health and fashion, the books aims to be a comprehensive list of the top 500 blogs on the World Wide Web.
The Top 500 Blogs will be out in bookstores in Q4 of 2008. Scooter McGavin's 9th Green will be included in the category of “Personal Blogs”, so keep an eye out for that!
(Scooter’s note: Whenever I get more news about the book, I’ll pass it along here. And don’t worry; when I am famous and all I’ll still have time for the little people. Well, at least I’ll try to.)
Big News of the Week: No Seriously, Scooter McGavin Should Write This Crap: Please, if you will, hop into the Scooter McGavin Time Machine (patent pending) all the way back to November 18, 2007 where I wrote right here on the 9th Green talking about Chuck, and I quote (well technically copy and paste): “the preview hyped the biggest secret yet next week. Is there anyplace where I can buy Bryce Is Still Alive stock?” Maybe I should add Dap to my wishlist just in case anyone wanted to send me some. Unfortunately I couldn’t call Noah being brought to life with the use of Claire’s blood which I said after he got shot in the eye here because Heroes went ahead and pulled out that plot twist before the episode ended. Oh well.
Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:
Chuck: The show being completely predictable aside, I actually didn’t see Lou being part of a food smuggling ring, luckily that led to the great scene with Jayne poising as an FDA agent. Granted the best scene was the Indian dude hitting on the Token Hot Chick (see picture above). Unfortunately that was ruined by a heavy dose of Morgan this week. C’mon, if they can bring Bryce back to life, they can make it that Morgan and Harry Tang switch places and Tang is back at the Buy More and Morgan is in Hawaii. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: Watching this episode reminded me how much I missed The Big Bang Theory this week (are they out of episodes already?). They really should have left the Slap Back in season two. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Heroes: Without the dude who can’t act around this week, Elle was much more tolerable this week. It should be interesting to see what she does with the information that Noah gave her this week about the Haitian erasing the bad memories of her childhood. Unfortunately dude that can’t act will be back next week with yet another tease that he might die with Hiro putting a sword to his neck in the preview. Please, please for the sake of decent acting, please have Hiro end him for once and for all. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: I have been waiting for Dan to do something in the past that changes his future. Unfortunately they didn’t have the fortitude to change anything drastic, just a conversation that wasn’t had. Oh, and now child predator is now out for revenge on Dan. Hopefully they explain how dude found Dan because I don’t know how you find someone you’ve seen only three times. Maybe I missed something where Dan gave away too much this episode. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Pushing Daisies: This was the first episode of the series where I actually guessed the culprit before the Scooby Gang pulled the mask off. Never trust a germaphobe, they always turn out to be the evil doing. But I’m not sure which of Emerson’s hobbies I like better, knitting or pop-up books maker. And it should be interesting to see how Pee-Wee will fit into all of this. Does he know that Chuck is dead or did he just steal her sweater because he is skeevy? Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Survivor: Stupid clip show. So the third time in as many week we get a tease that there will be something big after tribal council. I doubt whatever they do can possibly live up to the hype now. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Next Week’s Pick: The CNN/YouTube Republican Debate, Wednesday 28 at 8:00 on CNN: The last YouTube debate featuring the Democrats, and only debate I have watched so far this political season, saw an snowman, a pair of hillbillies, and a clinically insane dude who called a gun his kid ask questions. After most of them ducked the originally scheduled event this summer, now all eight Republican candidates have signed up for this one. Will John McCain sing any Beach Boys tunes? Will Rudy Giuliani be able to use a sentence that doesn’t include just a noun, a verb, and 9/11? Will the Leave Britney Alone Dude ask Mitt Romney how he will protect Ms. Spears from illegal immigrants? Will Mike Huckabee bring Chuck Norris along? Will Hillary Clinton be able to answer a question that wasn’t planted? (Oh wait, I guess we won’t have to worry about that conundrum.) Will any of the candidates bother answering one of my questions (which I did today, which is the deadline)? Speaking of Huck and Chuck, below is the greatest political ad ever in the history of the world. Saturday Night Live hasn’t had a political sketch this funny in a decade (fun fact: Mike Huckabee's band Capitol Offense has opened for Willie Nelson).
In a programming note, the debate over laps Pushing Daises that will be airing at a special time, 9:00, this week, so make sure you set your VCR (or Tivo’s for you pretentious types).
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, or as those outside the U.S. like to call it, Thursday. So I hope you have (or had depending on when you read this) a great Turkey Day. Just a heads up with the holidays upon us, here’s a look at the schedule the 9th Green will be taking the next couple weeks as well as a list of the best of 2007. There is a link on the sidebar for future reference. Feel free to dive into the archives on days that I will be taking off and on day or check out my peeps in my blogroll (card subject to change):
*As you may have noticed, on the 27th I will have a Reader’s poll on what you all thought were the best songs of the year. So if you would sometime time before Christmas, e-mail me, ScooterKSU(at)aol(dot)com, your top ten songs of the year in order. If you need a refresher of songs from the last twelve months, check out the list of the albums I reviewed for my Terror Alert Scale as all the songs from those albums are eligible, look through the music videos I highlighted the past year and of course any song released this year is okay too even if I didn’t talk about it. Your nominations will be confidential and I won’t disclose it here at the 9th Green. Hopefully I will at least more responses than I did last year, so if you enjoy the 9th Green please send me an e-mail with your list by December 24 (subject: 9th Green Reader's Poll). As an added bonus, whoever sends me their songs will be automatically be added to my Christmas list.
And with Christmas coming fast upon us, if there are any readers out there wondering what they could get their favorite blogger this year and have way too much disposable income, here is my Amazon wishlist:
And if you have a TV fan on your Christmas list (or just want to treat yourself), you may want to take a look at the NBC Universal DVD 60% Off Sale. You can get Scooter’s second favorite childhood show The A-Team for under $20 and The Office for just $11. Movies are also included in the sale such as Inside Man, which got a Severe rating here, and good friend Mandy Moore in American Dreamz on the cheap.
For some reason I have been labeled as some American Idol basher. This is understandable in regards to the show itself which is just of mediocre singers singing crappy songs. Despite my hatred of the national karaoke night, I have gone into listening former karaokers alums with an open ear but rarely been impressed with America’s ability at picking the next great singer. Of course this has led to people calling me a music snob just because I don’t like the mom-rock of Daughtry even though they fail to point out both Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood both ranked multiple times on my Best Songs of 2006 list.
After the puzzling win of Taylor Hicks selection, America has gone back to anointing a young girl as their karaoke queen. But unlike Clarkson and Underwood who used their girl next door charm to vault them into superstardom, that will not be the case for Jordin Sparks and it really doesn’t come as a surprise that the Ugly Betty doppelganger is the product of a former defensive back. And one listen to her first single Tattoo leaves non-Karaoke watchers scratching asking themselves, seriously her? That’s the best they could do? The song is a blatant rip-off of Rihanna’s Umbrella complete with nonsensical metaphors and annoying over-intrusive production. But unlike Umbrella, which had a second life with sweet acoustic cover versions, don’t expect many lame YouTuber to upload their own versions or any semi-ironic covers from established artists.
What’s so bad about Jordin’s self titled album is that we already heard it earlier this year when fellow former karaoker Katherine McPhee released essentially the exact same album (see I Want this to Be Over, I So Want this to Be Through). Both albums are chalked full of your typical bland overproduced album we have heard over and over again for the last five years. Okay, at least there are no songs on Jordin’s album as horrible as Open Toes, but at least McPhee didn’t have Chris Brown, who is by far a better dancer than singer, on hers.
It is not surprising that the two best songs on the album, Now You Tell Me and Permanent Monday, are the only tracks that actually use real instrumentation instead of using drum machines and beats that no rapper would think of using. But on the other end of the spectrum there is the laughable God Loves Ugly. The song basically sounds as if the writer thought, “that Christina Aguilera song Beautiful is great, but what if I wrote a song with the same sentiment but not as touching, then give it to someone that doesn’t have the vocal power to express the message anyway.” Of course you can take this review with a grain of salt because as you know I’m just a music snob.
The good people over at Amazon were nice enough to give an early Christmas present in the form of a Flip Video Camcorder. Instead of writing about it, why not tell you in all my monotone glory with my new toy (note the grotesque fingernail where my mom’s dog bit me over the summer):
Just a quick note of some things I didn’t cover in the video. First the camcorder takes two AA batteries. I really haven’t used it much but I have to imagine those won’t last long considering my digital camera takes four and burns threw them pretty quick. Also the videos are pretty huge; the one above is 40 MB’s for a two minute video. Oh, and it takes for fracking ever to upload and process these videos to YouTube. But it is a cool toy. Is it $150 cool? That’s debatable.
Now I am not entirely sure how or if I will incorporate my Flip into the 9th Green so I am up for suggestion. Keep in mind there will Paris Hilton type video and I won’t torture you with my singing. Although you have not lived until you have heard my trilling version of When Doves Cry so maybe the next time I am in an alcoholic haze I’ll record and upload it. I thought it would be cool when ever I make a list of some sort to give you an audio preview. I practiced on my playlist of the Best Songs of 2007. If you are interested in buying any of the songs or seeing the list in written form, I did a Lyrics Quiz of the list last year.
(Pardon the technical difficulties, like I said, I hate technology)
And while I am talking about Amazon, you may have noticed the widget on the sidebar that will have a Deal of the Day everyday until Christmas including a new deal every hour on Black Friday. You may also want to keep an eye on the Lightning Deals because those are where the truly great deals are, but there are only limited supplies so you have to act fast (hence the lightning title). I remember last year they did something like this that included getting all the seasons of Arrested Development for something like twenty dollars. I’m not talking about twenty for each individual season, but twenty for the whole series.
Big News of the Week: The Writers Strike Continues: Yawn. As a wise man once said, “Wake me up when September ends.” Let’s move on to more interesting things.
Tapeworthy: Vance was guest blogging on another site and refreshed his current TV Top 10 List to introduce himself. After the TV bloggers strike, it was nice to see Pushing Daisies again to brighten up the day and to prove why the writers deserve better compensation in the first place. Finally, there were a lot of That Guy this week, on Bones, on House, from Gossip Girl to Heroes (which, has completely lost/confused Vance at this point) and the CBS comedies (the good ones with long names HIMYM and TBBT).
TiFaux: This week, TiFaux had more than a little Project Runway on the brain. After giving a preview of all the contestants, Dan gave a rundown on the first episode including thoughts on the contestants’ fascination with the celebrity of being on Project Runway. In other news, we plotted various male characters (from Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Dirty Sexy Money, etc) on a chart based on their annoyingness and machismo.
Chuck: It bugs me to no end that they would ship off the extremely more entertaining Henry Tang to Hawaii yet let Morgan stick around. There is something to say that the minor characters are more entertaining than some of the main ones (Token Hot Chick and Jayne not included). Case in point, the best part of the episode (aside from the picture above of course) was when we learned that the Curly-looking Nerd Herder’s mom was in prison. And what was with the inclusion of the Brittany Spears song? Seriously, if you really, really wanted to use Toxic (get it? Because the episode was about toxins) why not use the semi-ironic version by Local H instead? And the preview hyped the biggest secret yet next week. Is there anyplace where I can buy Bryce Is Still Alive stock? This of course would solve my biggest complaint of the Pilot that Jayne would kill an un-armed CIA agent. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: This episode would have worked much better the first season when we didn’t know the characters very well. Aside from Barney and his catchphrases, the other character haven’t really done what they were accused of doing, but had they done it ealier when we didn’t know them very well, it would have been much less annoying that they would pull all these traits out of nowhere. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Everybody Hates Chris: This week’s random black dude guest star who hasn’t been seen in at least a decade: Tommy Davidson. But I loved that Greg put on a Superman costume first to go to sleep as Clark Kent. Classic.
The Big Bang Theory: I loved how Sheldon made a huge speech about the princess stuff, goes on a date with her, and she ends up being an afterthought by the end of the episode. Then the Token Hot Chick making his virgin drink, “a little slutty” was just classic. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Heroes: After they flashed back I get a feeling that the writers didn’t know what was actually going on back then when they wrote the season premiere. Seriously, how does DL get shot with a gun aimed at his chest? If you are going to kill him off at least shoot him in the back so he can’t see the bullet coming. And are supposed to believe that with how methodical The Company is that they wouldn’t make sure their guests wouldn’t be able to talk to each other? And how was Nathan able to grow that bushy beard in two weeks? And of all the flashbacks, how is it we don’t get to see how Sylar goes from being stabbed to the middle of the jungle with the shape shifting chick? But when it comes down to it, seeing Kristen Bell make out with the dude with no acting ability was the most disturbing thing on television this year that hasn’t involved Chris Hansen confronting naked dudes in a kitchen. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: Well that was a waste of Bo Duke. Of well. But I guess if you ask, you actually receive. Last week I said it was time for a big reveal, and Olivia is from the 1940’s and is traveling to the future is a big one, and definitely something I never saw coming. But this begs the question is current day Olivia still alive? I guess she would be in her eighties or nineties so it is plausible she still is. Now we just need to learn how the Dr. dude figured into this all. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Pushing Daisies: Maybe my favorite episode of the season so far. I would still like to see them do without the Ned’s childhood prologue ever week though. And seeing Jenny Wade as one of the wives made me wonder whatever happened to Project Greenlight, the second best reality show ever? With the strike looking like it will never end, how about getting thins back in production. Since the scripts would be coming from amateurs, you don’t have to worry about the WGA. Plus you get great television and possibly a watchable movie out of it. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Bionic Woman: Well I guess two decent episodes in a row is all we are going to get out of Bionic Woman. What really bugged me this week is how they switched the cinematography between your token slick sci-fi camera work with shaky, Friday Night Lights, zoom for close up expressions. Have they always done this and I have never notice before or was this the first time? Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
My Name Is Earl: Gotta love the movie trailer into. But this episode belonged to Joy trying to induce labor and Crabman who delivered the baby even after he got the induced labor drug. And surprise, even Michael Rappaport wasn’t as annoying as usual with him being mesmerized with Joy’s birth. Still, I hope he is in the Hole for the rest of Earl’s prison stay because I really could do without seeing him ever again. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: It was really annoying that last week during the promo they teased that something was going to happen after Tribal Council only for this episode to end with that tease. Some promo monkey needs to be fired for that. Especially since it will be two weeks until we finally see what is going to happen because next week’s Thanksgiving episode is a clip show. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Smallville: With all that is wrong with Heroes this season, I forgot to mention how it broke one of the three worst television clichés: amnesia. I bring this up because, for no real reason, Kara just happens to be transported to Michigan without any memory. Yawn.
Friday Night Lights: This show is the best at casting characters, from the lead roles to the extra to the guest stars, but what is with the English teacher and his hair? Don’t dudes like that get beaten down in Texas. What is worse is that Tammi, as a mother and a guidance councilor, didn’t call the dude out for being alone behind closed doors, breaking the number one cardinal rule for teachers, with her daughter. Hopefully the dude gets a newspaper job in Wisconsin next episode and is never seen again. At the very least can we get Chris Hansen down to Texas?
Thankfully the rest of the episode was vintage Friday Night Lights. From Tyra and Lyla teaming up to Coach being passive aggressive with Buddy again to Smash’s mom finally getting some quality screen time. And at least the lame teacher did led to a great scene when Coach complained his “No comment” was because he was behind the bathroom door. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Rush’d: I’m a little backlogged on the online show for ABC Family’s Greek that is chronicling five fans as they compete for a walk on role on the show. But I thought I’d mention that voting starts tomorrow and goes until Friday. You can vote three times a day for your favorite. As I mentioned before, I’ll be rooting for fellow Ohioan Laura Wise, also known as White Cup. Below is a picture of her from the set with Frannie, who just happens to be my favorite character on Greek. And of course head over to Virtual Rush to vote for White Cup (or one of the other contestants if you choose so) and/or check out the latest episodes of Rush’d.
Next Week’s Pick: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday at 9:00 AM on NBC: Now in it’s 81’s year, it is a Thanksgiving tradition for me to watch the festivities while getting things ready for the meal part of the day. Okay, this year’s guest list is less than stellar: Ashley Tisdale, Bindi and Terri Irwin, Corbin Bleu, Dolly Parton, Good Charlotte, Grandma from the Big Apple Circus, Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Kay Hanley, Lifehouse, Menudo, Michael Feinstein, Miss U.S.A. 2007 - Rachel Smith, Ne-Yo, Nikki Blonsky, Sarah Brightman, and Wynonna Judd. Seriously, Menudo? And should I even know who Tisdale, the Irwin’s, Blue, Grandma, the Jonas’ Sparks, Hanley, Blonsky, or Brighman are? But as long as there is a five story Garfield I’ll be happy.
![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on 
to my wishlist just in case anyone wanted to send me some. Unfortunately I couldn’t call Noah being brought to life with the use of Claire’s blood which I said after he got shot in the eye here because Heroes went ahead and pulled out that plot twist before the episode ended. Oh well.
![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
on my 
